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Come As You Are, Community, to the Church That is Named for You!

There are a lot of organizations that do good and we have written about many. I’m going to focus on this particular Church located in Frankford at the foot of Oxford Avenue under the shadow of the El train.

Pastor Elaine Rivera often contacts us with information about events, gatherings and offerings that the Church is doing for the community. There are many people in need in Frankford and they count on many of the life-giving Churches and community groups just to survive. Each service group tries to meet the needs of the people as best as they can.

What I have noticed over the years is that Pastor Elaine and her volunteers do what they do in a quiet, humble fashion. They go about the business of serving God’s people, as much as they are able counting, on other good people to help them with their needs. We know and believe that the Lord will provide but sometimes it takes more faith than we might have at the moment. But I don’t think Pastor Elaine’s faith falters – her life experiences have prepared her well for her ministry to society’s forgotten people.

Elaine Rivera grew up in Philadelphia but her call to ministry would not come until later in life. After she graduated from college, she served her country as a member of the United States Air Force for 8 years. Following an honorable discharge, she chose to study Law Enforcement and her career took her to New Mexico for 5 years. Feeling a call to further service for the Lord, Elaine became a licensed and ordained Minister of the Gospel in March 2011 at True Life Bible Church in Sicklerville, NJ. Serving in various servant leader roles, Elaine became an Assistant Pastor. Launching Crossroads Empowerment Ministry in Blackwood, NJ, Elaine would become a Senior Pastor. Pastor Elaine now serves as the Founder and Senior Pastor of Come As You Are Community Church. Her congregation are those marginalized by society – the homeless, the drug addicted, those who are challenged either socially or economically. Pastor Elaine is praying for guidance regarding the establishment of traditional housing for the homeless.

Come As You Are Community Church can be found on Facebook here – https://www.facebook.com/CAYAFCC/ and the Internet right here – cayachurch.org.

The Frankford Gazette recently posted that the Church needs volunteers. Please consider getting involved and helping them. Also, plans for Christmas Eve follows. Please help Pastor Elaine continue the work that she and the Church does so well.

No photo description available.

 

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Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum’s New Location

After 63 years in our current building, we are excited to announce that the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum, the only museum in the Philadelphia area solely dedicated to the remembrance of the history of the Civil War, has a new historic home at 8110 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.
 
We are very pleased to have been able to relocate to another certified historic building in a far more accessible area of the city. 
 
To accomplish the immense task of moving the museum to our new location we will need your assistance and financial support
 
Packing and moving will be a monumental task over the next few months which will require the help of many.  If you can give some time as a volunteer to assist with the move, please contact the Museum by replying to this message:  garmuslib1866@gmail.com
 
The cost of archival packing and storage materials plus the additional cost of the actual move are quite extensive.  We require certified archival materials to assure that our historic collection is properly protected.  Please consider donating to the museum to support our efforts as we begin the move to our new location.
 
As a 503(C)3 non-profit organization, all donations payable to the “GAR Museum” are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.  Donations should continue to be sent to our current address, GAR Civil War Museum, 4278 Griscom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124.
 
As of July 2, the Museum will be closed.  The Archive and Library will be open for research by appointment only.  We look forward to opening in the fall.
 
We invite you to become a part of the next chapter of the Museum’s history. 
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Help These Kids Get to the AAU junior Olympics

My good friend, Lenny Jaynes, regularly graces our page with poems but Lenny is more than a poet.  He has spent years working with young people at the Philadelphia Express Track Club.

The club is raising funds to send their team to humble, Texas for the 2021 AAU Junior Olympics.  It would mean the world to these kids to be able to participate.

Every donation is welcome but $100 or more will get you a framed copy of one of Lenny’s most popular poems.

Thanks in advance for your donation to this worthy cause.  Click on this link to download the donation form.

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Food Box Distribution at St. Mark’s

From Christina Mancini, Warden at St. Marks

We are equal parts humbled and delighted to share that our church has been selected by local nonprofit The Ray of Hope Project, run by Frankford’s own Raymond Gant, for a food distribution event this Saturday at 10 am.

The boxes being provided weigh about 40 pounds or more and include fresh fruits and vegetables, so it would be helpful for anyone attending to bring along a wheeled shopping cart.

Thank you Raymond Gant for this enormous blessing and for all you do for our community!

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Thank You For Your Support!

Pat Smiley and I thank you for your support of our Memorial Day fundraiser and efforts to promote his and Richard Johnson’s book, “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition”! If you’ve been busy or just didn’t quite get to ordering their book, you can still do so and we will still honor our pledge of 20% of book sales to be split between St. Mark’s Church and the Catholic Daughters’ Matthew 25 Food Cupboard. You will still get the ebook edition, too, for free. This effort will officially end on Friday, June 5. Here’s the link for you to use – https://frankfordgazette.com/books-for-sale/

We have mailed the books to those who ordered and have mailed the donations to St. Mark’s Church and Court St. Francis de Sales #2617 CDA. Every little bit helps!!!

For all of you who have purchased the book since it was available last fall, please check your email as Bob Smiley has emailed you a link to the ebook. Please check your email and let us know if you did not receive one and had purchased a book. We do our utmost to insure our records are accurate but… We hope you enjoy this ebook version, too. If you would like to share your comments about the book and allow us to use them as testimonials, please email gil@frankfordgazette.com

We would appreciate hearing what you think of the book!! Thank you again for your purchase and we look forward to sharing more publications with you that pique your interest. Stay well!